May Result - Slava Smrti
Battlegod Productions
Black Metal
8 songs (38:18)
Release year: 2008
Reviewed by Charles
Serbia's May Result have actually been around nearly 15 years, but only now seem to be getting some more attention internationally, (featuring in Terrorizer magazine's Choice Cuts section in January 2009). Slava Smrti is their fifth album, although the first of theirs that I have heard.

Essentially, they could be described as "symphonic black metal", but this does them a clear disservice, given the perjorative overtones that label has assumed in recent times. They are light years away from being hammy and inauthentic, and the last bands that comparions should be drawn with would be Dimmu Borgir or Cradle of Filth. Their "symphonic" elements are heavily stripped back, amounting mainly to a rather tasteful choral keyboard sound that hardly ever comes to the fore, instead lurking tastefully in the background, haunting rather than overpowering the band's sound.

A better comparison in terms of music would be earlier Emperor, and of course this is a huge complement to the band. It seems to straddle In the Nightside Eclipse and Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk, employing the former's ferocious, rapid and complex black metal sound and compositions, whilst also embracing the dense power of the tremolo riffs on the latter. In terms of contemporaries, to my ears they compare extremely favourably to other "symphonic" bands such as Lunar Aurora; with far more intense and assertive riffs, and far less chaff to cut from wheat. Given that I've never understood the appeal of that much-praised band, however, others may disagree.

The album sounds extremely accomplished, and makes me wonder why they are not better known within the black metal scene. They manage to generate an extremely powerful audial assault at times, such as on At the Cursed Heights of Prokletije, which alternates between a complex blizzard of neckbreaking riffs and overpowering rushes of tremolo storms.

Ultimately, this is an excellent album, and having neglected it for some time I am now inclined to declare it one of the better black metal records of 2008, eclipsing better-known albums from scene luminaries such as Taake and Behexen. Recommended for those that want to hear something truly impressive done with the "symphonic" black metal sound.

Killing Songs :
At the Cursed Heights of Prokelitije, Slava Smrti
Charles quoted 81 / 100
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